Permutation-lock



(Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

D. STEINBR' & J. SCHIBLE. PERMUTATION LOCK.

No. 476,904. n PatenteJune 14, 11892.

i ai: L'T' b ll ll l!! LLILI!! ITG/1.6.

(Model.) 3 sheetssheet 2.

D. STBINBR an J. SGHIBLB. PERMUTATION LOGK.

No. 476,904. Y Patented June 14, 1892..

(Model.) asheets-sheen 3.

D. STEINER 8v J. SGHIELE. PBRMUTATION LOCK.

UNiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DIETI'IELM STEINER AND JOI-IN SCHIELF., OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

PERiVIUTATION-LOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 476,904, dated J' une14, 1892.

Application filed June 4,1891. Serial No. 395,123. (Model.)

T0 all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that we, DIETHELM STEINER, a citizen of the Republic ofSwitzerland, and tIGHN SCHIELE, a citizen of the United States, and bothresidents of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certainImprovements in Locks, of which the following is a spccitication.

Our invention consists of a novel form of combination tu mbler-lock inwhich the proper tu mblers are operated by a suitable key so as torelease the bolt and in which the operation of any tumblers other thanthose forming the proper combination will serve to lock thebolt andprevent its movement until the combination is reset. The lock is alsoprovided with means for relooking the bolt either from one side of thelock or the other after the bolt has been unlocked by means of the key,and it is also provided with a secondary combinatioir dial andpermutation-disks, whereby the coinbination of the main lock can bereset from the outside by any one having a knowledge of said secondarycombination in case the main combination has been disarranged by any oneattempting to pick the lock or otherwise tampering with the same oroperating the wrong tumblers, The lock also possesses certain minorfeatures of construction, all of which are so fully set forth andclaimed hereinafter that any preliminary reference thereto will beunnecessary.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a vertical sectional View of adoor provided with a lock constructed in accordance with ourinvention,`the section being on the line l 2, Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a rearview of the lock with the cover-plate removed and some of the minorparts also detached. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view of part of the doorand the lock, the section being on the line 3 4, Fig. 2, and thesecondary mechanism for resetting the main combination being alsoillustrated. Fig. tis a perspective view of so much of the lock as isillustrated in Fig. 2. t Fig. 5 is a series of perspective views showingthe Various parts of the lock detached from each other, and Figs. 6 to1S are detached views illustrating the operation of the lock or specialdevices employed in connection therewith.

In Figs. 1 and 3 A represents part of a door, which is suitablyinortised for the reception of the case B of the lock, this case havinga detachable cover-plate B,as in ordinary locks. lVithin the case issuitablyguided the locking-bolt 1, which is acted upon bya springtending to project it, and is also acted upon by an arm 3, projectingfrom a hub et, which receives the knob-spindle 5, the outer end of thearm 3 being forked, so as to engage with openings 6, formed in the boltl on opposite sides of the saine, as shown in Fig. 1, or, if desired,there may for convenience be but one ot' these openings and but oneprojection on the arm The bolt l is recessed at the top, so as to form acontracted web 7, which has in its upper edge a series of notches 8. andabove the bolt is a tumblercarrying frame 9, which is recessed for thereception of the contracted web 7 of the bolt, and thus spans the same,as shown in.Fig. 1, this tumbler-carrying frame being suspended from abar 10 in the upper portion of the lockcasing and being guided so as tomove vertically by reason of the tact that it has projecting ends ll,bearing against the ends of the lock-casing, and also hassuspending-arms l2, adapted to slots in a longitudinal partition 13,formed in the lock-case near the top of the same.

rlhe frame 9 has notches 14 in line with the notches S, formed in thenarrow web ot the bolt, and in these notches are guided the shanks of aseries of tuniblers 15 and IG, which we denominate, respectively, livetumblers and dummy tumblers, the distinction between vthe two sets oftumblers being in the' character of the notches formed in the shanks ofthe same. This difference will be understood on reference to Figs. 7, 8,9, and l0, where it will be seen that the live tumblers Vare so formedthat when said tumblers occupy their foremost position, as shown in Fig.7, a portion of the shank of the tumbler engages with the notch in theupper edge of the narrow web 7 of the bolt, the notch being in front ofsaid web, so that when the tumbler is pushed inward by the key totheproper extent the notch in the same is brought into line with thebolt-web, and thelatteris thereby released from the control of thetumbler, as shown in Fig. 8. In the dummy tumblers 16, however, areverse construction is adopted-that is tosay, when the tumblers are intheir foremost positions their notches are in line with the web of thebolt, as shown in Fig. 9; but when either of said tumblers is pushedinward a portion of its shank is caused to enter the notch in the web ofthe bolt, and thus lock the same, as shown in Fig. 10.

When Athe lock is in its normal position, all of the tumblers occupytheir foremost position, as shown in Figs. 7and 9. Hence in order tounlock the bolt, so as to permit it to be retracted by turning the knob,it is necessary to push inward all of the live tumblers 15 until theirnotches coincide with the narrow web of the bolt, as shown in Fig. S;but if any of the dummy tumblers are pushed inward the shank of the sameengages with the notched web of the bolt, and thus etfectually locks thesame until the combination is reset by restoring all of the tumblers totheir foremost position, as hereinafter described. I

Each of the tumblers has an enlarged head, in which are formed twotransverse recesses, and in suitable slots 2O in the suspending arms 12of the frame il are guided the opposite ends 21 ofa bar 22, which isacted upon by springs 23, tending to depress it, and is preferablyprovided with a coverin 24 of rubber or other elastic or semi-elasticmaterial. The bottom of the bar 22 is rounded and the recesses in theheads of the tumblers are likewise rounded, the bar engaging with therear recess of the tumblers when said tumblers are projected, as shownin Figs. 7 and t). rl`he recesses are comparatively shallow, however, sothat when a tumbler is pushed inward the bar 22 will yield sufficientlyto permit of such movement and will'th en engage with the front recess.Hen ce while the tumblers can bc readily moved by means of a suitablekey they cannot be accidentally displaced so as to derange thecombination.

The front plate or escutcheon 25, which is applied to the face of thedoor, is shown in Fig. 14, on reference to which it will be seen thatsaid plate has formed in it as many keyholes 26 as there are tumblers,and each of these keyholes has an enlarged upper portion correspondingwith the enlarged head '27 of the key, as shown in Fig. 13, the lowerportion of each keyhole being contracted, as shown in Fig. 14, so thatit will receive the contracted stem or shank 2S of the key. In using thelatter it is therefore necessary to first insert the head of the samethrough the enlarged upper portion of the keyhole for a proper distance,and the key must then be depressed in order to bring it into line withthe tumbler.

Secured to and projecting forwardly from the front face of thelock-casing is a key-box 70, open at the top, but having a front platewith notches 7l wide enough for the narrow shank of the key and a seriesof partitions 72, by which it is divided into a series of chambers orpockets side by side, each of these pockets being just large enough bothas regards length and width to receive the enlarged head of the key, andto the front. face of the lock-casing is secured a key-gate 73, each ofthe key-openings in which is in line with one of the tumblers and has avertical partition 74 for entering the slot 75 in the head of the key asthe latter is projected.

The key-box and key-gate are shown most clearly in Fig. 5. Thepartitions 74 of the keygate openings are in line with the notches 7l inthe front ot' the key-box and also with the contracted lower portions ofthe keyholes 26 in the plate 25, so that if a wire or other implement ispassed through the lower portion of the keyhole it cannot reach thetumblers because of these partitions, while any implement introducedthrough the upper portion of the keyhole is under the additionaldisadvantage of being out of line with the tumbler, so that the pickingof thelock or any opening of the same except with the special key isprevented.

For the purpose of facilitating the opening of the lock by means of theproper key a guide-plate 30-such as shown in Fig. ll-may be employed.This guide-plate is adapted to (it into a fillet 29, which surrounds theseries of keyhole-openings 20, and in the plate are openings 3lcorresponding to those keyholes into which the key must be inserted inorder to open the lock, or, if desired, a compound key and carrier-suchas shown in Fig. 12 may be employed, there being in this case a seriesof keys properly disposed with reference to the given combination andcarried by a duplex bar 32, Fig. 1S, which is guided in a frame 33, andcan be moved in said frame so as to project all of the keyssimultaneously, the bar being normally held in a retracted position bymeans of a suitable catch 34.

In order to relock the bolt after the door has been opened, a lever 35is hung to theinner side of the cover-plate B of the lock, the lower armof this lever extending along the entire series of tumblers from one ofthearms 12 of the frame 9 to the other, and the upper arm of the leverengaging with a notched projection 36 on a bar 37, which projects on theinside of the door. By pulling this bar inward, therefore, the lever 35is caused to move forward any of thetumblers which have been pushedinward by the key in opening the lock, thereby again locking the bolt.The bar 37 is acted upon by an arched spring 45, which tends to depressthe front end of the bar and cause the lever 35 to occupy, normally, theretracted position shown in Fig. 1, so that it is out of the way of thetumblers when the latter are pushed inward by the key.

In order to provide for relocking the bolt from the outside of the door,a square rod 38 is guided in the upper portion of the front vplate 25,this rod having a knob 39 at the outer end and a notched head 40 at theinner Sic ' present instance.

` dial.

end. etore closing the door the rod 3S is pulled outward and the notchedfront end t1 of the bar 37 is raised, and the bai' is then pushed inwardso as to cause the head 40 to engage with saidnotched end of the bar 37,as shown in Fig. G. Vhen the door is closed, therefore, the simplepushing inward of the knob 39 will effect a like movement of the bar 37and will cause the lever 35 to swing so as to lock the bolt. The frontend of the bai 37 swings in a box 42, Fig. 15, the front end of which isclosed as to the lower portion, so that in case the plate 25 and rod 38are removed direct access to the front end of the bar 37 is stillprevented, and readjustinent of the tnmloleis cannot be effected by anyone tampering with the lock. It' one or more of the dummy tumblers 16has been moved to engage with the bolt, the latter cannot be released bythe operation of the live tumblcrs, and it therefore becomes necessaryto provide some means for resetting the combination from the outside ofthe door when the latter is locked, and cannot be unlocked by the properkeyin the possession of any one having a knowledge of the maincombination. For this purpose we use a secoiidary device in the natureof a combinationlock and comprising a spindle 50, guided in the dooradjacent to the main lock, this spindle having at the front end asuitably-graduated dial 5l, Fig. 16, through which a square portion ofthe spindle can slide longitudinally, while at the rear end of thespindle are a series of permutation-disks 52,any number of which may beused, two being shown inthe These disks have central openings adapted tobe engaged by an enlarged portion or projection upon the spindle 50,which also has at its inner end a projecting finger 53, as shown in Fig.3. In the disks 52 are openings 54, and when the disks are properlyadjusted these openings are in line with a pin 55 on one arin of a lever56, which is hung to a suitable plate 57, the other arm of the leverengaging with the hooked inner end of the bar 37. ln order to reset thecoinbination by means of this device, the spindle 50 is iirst pulledoutward to its full extent, so that the enlargement or projection `atits inner end engages with the first of the disks 52, and the spindle isthen turned until said disk has been moved so as to bring its opening54E into line with the pin 55 of the lever 5G, this movement beingdetermined by a proper number or other character upon the The spindle isthen pushed inward to a suitable mark on the square outer end, so as torelease the first disk and engage with the second disk, and the latteris then turned in like 1nai1ner,so as to bring its opening into linewith the pin 55, and the spindle is then pushed inward to its fullextent, so as to release the second disk, and is then turned so as tocause its iinger 53 to overlap the end of the lever 5G, as shown bydotted lines in Fig. 3, whereupon an outward pull upon the spindle willcause an inward pull upon the har 37, and thus effect the resetting otthe combination.

The disks 52 are suitably guided and retained laterally by outer rings53 and a box on the plate 57 carries a springactuated block 59, Fig. 17,which exerts such triction upon the disks as to preveiit any accidentalmovement of the same.

In order to provide for readily opening the door from the inside whenthe combination 1s set and the bolt is locked by the live tuinblers, weprovide means for lifting the entire frame 9 and all ot' the tumblerscarried thereby, so as to release the bolt and permit it to be operatedby means of the knob-spindle, the lowering of the frame again causingthe locking of the bolt Vwithoutderangement of theV combination. Forthis purpose we usea cani G0, mounted on the partition-plate 13 andacting on the transverse bar 10, from which the tumbler-frame issuspended, as shown in Fig. 2, the hub of this cani receiving a spindleG1, which has on the inside of the door a knob or head 62 ot' anydesired character, so that the spindle can be readily turned in order toraise or lower the tumbler-frame.

lli-desired, the key may have a portion of its shank squared, as shownat 43, Fig. 13, so that it can be used as a spindle foroperating thebolt-moving arin 3 in place ot the knobspindle, and this squared portionot the key may be notched at the end, as shown at 114i in Fig. 13, sothat it can be used in place ot the rod 38 for operating the bar 37.

Having thus described our invention, we claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent- 1. A lock in which a notched bolt is combined with aseries of live and dummy tu mblers which have no tendency to move ineither direction, but are adapted to engage diiectly with and to bedisengaged from said notched bolt, each tumbler having a single notch inone edge, and the notches of the respective tumblers being so arrangedthat the live tuinblers will normally lock the bolt, but when moved by asingle movement will release the saine, while the dummy tuinblersnormally release the bolt, but when moved by a single movement lock thesaine, substann tially as speciiied.

2. A lock in which the notched bolt is combined with live and dummytumblers notched as described, a notched frame in which said tumblersare guided transversely to the bolt, and means for lifting said frame soas to carry all of the tuinblers out of engagement with the bolt,substantially as specified.

3. A lock in which a notched bolt is coinbined with a series of notchedtuinblers, a frame in which said tiimblers are guided transversely, anda spring presser-bar extending along the series of tuinblers and actingupon all of said tuinblers, substantially as specified.

4i. The combination of the notched bolt, the transversely-inovingtumblers having heads IOO IIO

each With two recesses side by side, and the spring presser-bar bearingupon said tumblers and adapted to enter either recess of the same,substantiallv as specilied.

5. The combination of the notched bolt and the transversely-movingtumblers with the keyhole-plate having openings enlarged at the end andwith a key having an enlarged head and contracted shank, whereby it mustlirst be introduced in one direction and then moved in a direction atright angles thereto before it can act on the tumbler, substantially asspecified.

6. The combination of the notched bolt and the transverse tumblers, thekey having an enlarged head and contracted shank and the key-box havingcontracted notches for the shank of the key and pockets for the enlargedhead of the same, substantially as specified.

7. 'lhe combination ofthe notched bolt and the transverse tuinblers, thekey having an enlarged head and contracted shank, the keyhole-platehaving openings enlarged at one end, and the key-box having pockets forthe reception of the enlarged head ot' the key, but in a different planefrom said enlarged ends ot` the keyhole, substantially as specified.

8. The combination of the notched bolt and the transverse tumblers withthe key having a slotted head, the key-gate having partitioned openings,and means for preventing the preliminary insertion of the key in linewith the openings in said key-gate, substantially as specified.

9. The combination of the notched bolt, the transversely-movingtumblers, and means, substantially as described, including a grad uateddial and permutation-tumblers, for restoring said tuinblers and lockingthe bolt after they have been moved from their normal position to'unlock the bolt, substantially as set forth. t

l0. The combination ofthe notched bolt, the transversely-movingtumblers, the relookingbar, and the relooking-lever having one arm forengaging with the tu mblers and the other arm engaging With the bar,substantially as specified.

l1l. The combination of the notched bolt, the transversely-moving tumblers, the relookinglever, the bar engaging therewith, and means foroperating said bar from the outside of the door, substantially asspecified.

12. The combination of the notched bolt, the transversely-movingtumblers, the resetting mechanism, and means for operating saidresetting mechanism, oomprising a spindle, a graduated dial, and aseries of permutationdisks which must be adjusted to predeterminedposition before the resetting device can be operated, substantially asspecified.

13. The combination of the notched bolt, the transversel y-movin gtumblers, the locking-lever and its bar, the resetting-lever, thepermutation disks and dial, and the spindle having a squared andgraduated portion engaging with the dial, an enlarged portion forengaging with the permutation-disks, aud a finger for engaging With theresetting-lever, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof We have signedour names to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

DIE'II-IELM STEINER. JOI-IN SCHIELE. Witnesses:

EUGENE ELTERICH, HARRY SMITH.

